New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asked the Election Commission to register an FIR against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders for alleged model code violation by holding a rally at Haridwar without permission from the poll body.
A delegation of the Congress party led by AICC general secretary Ambika Soni and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and other leaders also demanded an investigation into the alleged pumping of crores of rupees into the state election.
It urged the Commission to ensure that no postal votes cast after the designated time of 5.00 PM in the Uttarakhand Assembly polls on February 15 be counted.
"We would like to submit that breach of Model Code of Conduct was committed by Narendra Modi ji himself, amongst others, and an FIR should be filed against the perpetrator amongst others," the delegation said in a memorandum submitted to the poll body.
The delegation maintained that the EC should immediately instruct the State Election Commission to file an FIR against Narendra Modi, J P Nadda, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (MP), Madan Kaushik (local candidate) and other BJP leaders and party candidates who addressed/participated in the election rally for alleged "breach of MCC which can be clearly seen from the material available in public domain".
"The EC should also launch a probe into the pumping of huge amount of unaccounted cash during election by the BJP.
"Besides the poll body should ensure that no postal votes be counted which were cast after the designated time of 5.00 PM on 15.2.2017," the memorandum stated.
Soni and Rawat told the Commission that during the election campaigning in Uttarakhand, Modi held a public rally in Haridwar on February 10, without taking requisite permission from the poll watchdog and thus violated the Model Code of Conduct.
They said, on bringing the matter to the notice of Chief Election Officer of Uttarakhand and other authorities, a showcause notice was issued and since the "BJP had failed to convince the Election Commission through its reply, the Commission had filed an FIR against the Haridwar Unit of BJP."
The Congress delegation also pointed out that the EC had
ordered registration of an FIR against AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi and others in connection with a delay in the road show carried out by him on February 12.
"We would like to submit that there should not be two yardsticks in filing of FIR. If the Election Commission has registered an FIR against the Congress Vice President and the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand merely on the ground of delay in concluding the road show, which was inadvertent otherwise, and for which prior permission was already taken from the appropriate authority, similarly FIR should also be initiated against Narendra Modi, JP Nadda and others," they stated.
"We would also like to bring to your kind notice that the BJP has grossly misused the Central government agencies and spent thousands of crores of rupees in Uttarakhand elections through widespread use of print and electronic media, unchecked chartered flights/choppers to roam around in the state during elections and to fetch money and materials to influence voters in large scale," the Congress leaders alleged.
Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhayay and other state leaders were also part of the delegation.
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